


journalism integrity

by tangentiallly



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Anwhistle Aquatics Fire, Arguing, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25946746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tangentiallly/pseuds/tangentiallly
Summary: Jacques and Bertrand argue about an article Jacques wrote in the Daily Punctilio.
Relationships: Jacques Snicket & Bertrand Baudelaire
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	journalism integrity

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: I don't own ASOUE

“ _Illustrious_ article you wrote for Daily Punctilio,” Bertrand said as he sat down beside Jacques.

Jacques froze for a moment, and then turned to look at him slowly. “Don’t,” he said curtly.

“He’s just a kid, J.”

"He’s eighteen,” Jacques said irritably. “And I didn’t accuse him of anything he didn’t do.”

“I don’t remember you writing anything about poison darts and La Forza del Destino,” Bertrand remarked.

“And you’re welcome.” Jacques shot back. “Or would you rather I had?” He asked, his tone sarcastic. “I could always rectify that if you wish.”

Bertrand frowned. “That’s not what I meant. I appreciate that you kept that out of papers. Just … you could’ve kept this one out, too.”

“A _fire_ ,” Jacques said slowly, “is much harder to keep away from the public. If we don’t print anything, the public will speculate, and we don’t want them to speculate too deep.”

“It’s a _research center_ ,” Bertrand exclaimed, exasperated. “You could’ve framed it as … some kind of accident. With all the experiments they had going on. It would’ve sounded plausible and you know it.”

“It’s about journalism integrity.” Jacques said coolly. “I’m not going to print lies, I’m not sinking to Geraldine Julienne’s level.”

Bertrand stared at him in disbelief, but there’s a sinking feeling inside him as puzzle pieces clicked inside his brain. The organization asked them to take children away from their families - and Jacques reasoned to himself that they asked permissions first and allowed children to finish their tea. The organization placed them as spies at Daily Punctilio to control the media - and Jacques reasoned to himself that while he might not write about certain events, he would not outright print lies. The organization asked them on morally questionable missions, but Jacques stuck to his own set of principles stubbornly, believing that if he did so then everything he did was justified, that all the not so good things he’d done would all be for the greater good. That if he never broke this set of rules, then VFD was still noble and he could continue to dedicate his life to them.

Which meant that not reporting a murder was fine, but reporting intentional arson as research experiment gone wrong was not. Apparently, _not_ reporting the fire was not an option because it was too hard to ignore, unlike two people shot dead by poison darts during opera. It’s ridiculous, in that case why hadn’t the organization just instructed Fernald to shoot Gregor with a dart? Oh, right, they wanted to get rid of the samples too. But still, Bertrand had some doubts about whether the public would really catch on to what happened if it wasn’t reported. Maybe they would just forget it in time when the next big news came along. But it didn’t matter now, it was already reported.

“He idolized you, did you know that?” Bertrand asked abruptly.

Jacques scoffed.

“He _did_. He thought you were this cool older volunteer when you worked on the submarine with his stepfather. And then you went and wrote this article about him burning down the research center leading to the death of Gregor - after he was given the mission _by our organization_!” Bertrand paused. “After the organization had helped cover up so many dirty missions. Then you went and wrote this article. That’s why he’s switching sides.”

“… _What?_ He’s _what_? And how did you know? He went to you for career counseling?”

Bertrand suddenly looked cagey. “He didn’t talk to me. I just … heard about it.”

Jacques narrowed his eyes. “Oh, your _boyfriend_ told you now, did he?”

“He’s not my -”

“So that’s a yes. Stop hanging out with him.” Jacques said irritably.

“Don’t change the subject,” Bertrand said sharply. “How I knew is irrelevant. Who I hang out with is _also_ irrelevant. Right now, someone who’s most knowledgeable about Gregor’s research is switching sides -”

Realization dawned on Jacques’s face. “So that’s what you’re worried about. You could’ve just said this in the beginning and not start with all those ‘ _he’s just a kid_ ’ sentiments. You didn’t actually care about that. You’re worried about him taking the knowledge to the other side.”

Bertrand ran a hand across his forehead tiredly. “How can you just - you know what, I can’t do this. I need to - I need to go.” He stood up abruptly. Jacques didn’t move.

“Well,” he said coldly. “The door’s right there.”

**Author's Note:**

> [come say hi on tumblr](https://beatricebidelaire.tumblr.com/)


End file.
